It is well recognized that a major, if not the major, cause of injury to medical staff during surgical procedures is the infelicitous handling of sharp surgical instruments such as scalpels, scissors and the like. It is estimated that scalpel injuries account for between 7% and 12% of all sharps injuries. This statistic has spawned significant effort in improving the safety of surgical instruments. One result of this effort is the so-called “safety scalpel”, whose blade is retractable thus allowing ancillary staff to pass it to the surgeon in its retracted state. In theory this ought to prove an ideal solution. However, in practice it has been shown not to be because in the pressure of an operation and the rapid transfer of surgical instruments to and fro between ancillary staff and the surgeon, the blade is apt not to be fully retracted. A surgeon grasping the scalpel while concentrating more on the health of the patient than his or her own welfare is prone to injury. Indeed, the a priori assumption on the part of the surgeon that the scalpel blade is retracted may lead to less caution than if it were known that the blade was exposed.
The inventor has been informed that even in the same hospital there is no one consistent method of passing scalpels and the like between operating room staff. While one surgeon reported that he has the scalpel passed to him by hand with the handle pointing in his direction, so as not to get cut by mistake from fumbling, a second surgeon has the scalpel passed to him in the opposite direction for fear or cutting the assistant. Such mutually contradictory procedures are confusing to the ancillary staff and are prone to increase the risk of injury.
It has thus been concluded that a hands-free passing technique using a scalpel holder is a safer alternative to the safety scalpel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,807 discloses such a holder that is used during surgical procedures and to dispose of scalpels after use. A number of scalpels are held in separated positions to be easily grasped when needed. The holder includes a cover for the blade ends of the scalpels, and a retractable cover for the handle ends. Each scalpel rests readily gripped on edge in its individual compartment. Adhesive pads-are optionally used to secure the holder in fixed location on an instrument tray during the operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,441,655 discloses a dual function transfer tray that can be used for either a scalpel or a suturing needle holder with suturing needle. A scalpel slot is formed in the bottom of a relatively deep set of sloped walls. A suture needle cavity is formed above the first slot. At a mid-section of the scalpel slot and the half-cylindrical suture needle cavity are opposing and deep V-shaped cutaway sections in the sidewalls with a flat floor section between them.